Nonexistent Bonds
by Intriguing
Summary: Unable to cope with the secrets and lies of his grandfather, Tezuka runs away from home with only the clothes on his back. After he gains stardom, Tezuka’s involvement with a certain azure-eyed boy draws him back to the life he escaped from. TezukaxFuji
1. The Boy and Aftereffects

Summary: Unable to cope with the secrets and lies of his grandfather, Tezuka runs away from home with nothing but the clothes on his back. After he becomes a famous celebrity, Tezuka's involvement with a certain azure-eyed boy draws him back to the life he escaped from.

Pairing/s: Mainly TezukaxFuji, maybe more.

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis is not mine.

A/N: This is my first fanfic I've written in three years. Bear with whatever stinks.

* * *

**Nonexistent Bonds**

Chapter 1: The Boy and Aftereffects

"_I never approved of their marriage. My daughter could've done so much better than marry that man. Even if a frown appears on her face, you know what to do."  
_

It was a bright sunny Sunday morning, a light breeze rustling the tree leaves slightly and the sounds heard were of children's laughter. Some kids ran along the pavement of rocks, others climbed the jungle gym and even rode the swing.

One little boy age of three kept to himself. He sat in the sandbox with a bright green pail and a small orange shovel.

The little boy had his brunette hair covering his eyes as he digs his shovel into the floor of sand he sat on. He lifts the scoop of sand and observes each grain as they race against each other for which grain gets into the pail the fastest. He has a calm and content expression on his face with his eyes seemingly closed. Remembering how his older sister told him he could only play for five more minutes, he poured the last bit of sand out of his pail and placed the shovel into it. He pushed himself up with his small hands attempting to leave the sandbox quickly but immediately tripped over the wall around the sandbox and scraping his knee on the concrete.

He should've been more careful, he thought. A river of tears flows down his cheeks because he's not a genius like everyone claims he is and his knee won't stop stinging.

Hearing the silent cries of this boy, another boy his age came over to his side. This boy wore glasses and was brunette as well but had natural blond streaks in his hair. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and gently wrapped it around the other boy's knee. No words were exchanged, no glances at one another but at the injured knee. Once the boy was done tending to the knee, he got up to walk away.

"Syusuke!" a woman's voice called out from the distance. When she finally found her little brother, she immediately rushed to his side.

"Syusuke, what happened? Are you alright? Talk to big sis, don't cry," she whispered softly into his ear while wiping away any evidence of tears. The little boy whispered almost inaudibly to his sister. She gave her little brother a smile and helped him off the ground. She picks up his pail and holds out her free hand for him to hold, which he takes eagerly. They both walk over to the other boy who helped Syusuke.

The other boy's father, Kuniharu, sitting on a bench saw the woman approaching his son. He wasn't sure what happened so he approached the scene.

"Sweetie, thank you very much for helping my little brother Syusuke," she said in a sweet voice.

"Hello, miss. Is anything the matter? Did my son do something wrong?" the father asked.

"No, no. Nothing is wrong. In fact, your son helped my little brother after he hurt his knee. He's very sweet and very caring. You did a great job in raising your son."

"Thank you, miss."

"You don't need to call me miss. Please call me Yumiko. Nice to meet you," she quickly places the pail on the ground and held out her hand for the father to shake.

He takes her hand in a handshake and introduces himself as well, "My name is Kuniharu and my son's name is Kunimitsu."

"Pleasure to meet you both. We have to get going now," she says picking up the pail off the ground and turning to leave with Syusuke.

"Wait wait. What's the rush? It's barely even brunch time. Let the children play some more," Kuniharu insisted.

Yumiko pondered for a second but then thought why is she pondering. "Sure why not." she hands her little brother his pail and he walked off to play.

"How about I get you a cup of coffee and we can chat for a bit?" he offered and she nodded in agreement. She walked over to a bench and sat with her legs crossed. She brushed away that one strand of hair that blew in front of her face. Before she knew it, Kuniharu was back with two cups of coffee. He hands one to her and she takes it eagerly.

"I wasn't sure of your coffee preference. Did you want sugar or cream?" he asked sitting down.

"I like my coffee black," she smiled back.

"Same." The two adults sat on the bench in silence while sipping their plain black coffee. Yumiko's chuckle broke the silence.

"My little brother still won't interact with other kids." She turns her head to Kuniharu. "The only kids he would socialize with are our youngest brother and me," she takes another sip of her coffee. He gave her a surprise look. When she swallowed her coffee, she continues, "I know what you're thinking. How can I be a kid even though I'm in my twenties? I'm still going to school, living with my parents and my two little brothers. I'm not involved with any men so I'm not getting married soon. And when I play with my little brothers, they just bring out the kid in me." Both adults laughed.

Off in the distance a car arrives to pick up the Tezuka family from the park. The family housekeeper, Ren, exits from the passenger side and opens the door for Kuniharu's wife, Ayana. She's a beautiful high class lady, very much in love with her husband. She straightens her dress and removes her sunglasses from her eyes. She scans the park for her family. She spots Kunimitsu by the slide and continues to look for her husband. Ren looks at his watch and then observes his surroundings but his observation stopped at Ayana. Her face was frozen and her breathing was heavy. He instantaneously took her bronchodilator out of his pocket and placed it in her mouth allowing her to use it. She breathed heavily into the bronchodilator and began sobbing. Ren looked in the direction Ayana was looking before. He knew what triggered her asthmatic episode, the sight of her husband enjoying the company of a younger woman.

Ren tells Ayana to get into the car and she complies. He walks over to Kuniharu and Yumiko.

"Kuniharu sir, sorry to interrupt your date, but Ayana miss is here to take you and young master Kunimitsu home," Ren said with a stern voice.

"Oh I see. Well," Kuniharu puts his coffee cup on the bench, stands up, held out his right hand, "it was very nice to meet you Yumiko. Hope you and your little brother take care."

"Yes you too. Take care," she shakes his hand with a smile.

Ren leads Kuniharu and Kunimitsu back to the car with wicked smirk on his face. Kuniharu lets his son in the car first, then he follows. Once he closed the door, Ayana grabbed onto his waist desperately. He had no idea how to react.

"Honey... Ayana, what's wrong?" he asked.

She shook like a child stilling holding him tightly. "Haru, I love you. I love you," she whispered frantically.

He untwined her arms around him and pulled her up closer to him. Now wrapping his arms around her and placing a kiss on her forehead, he says "I love you too, Ayana."

* * *

"... he hurt her with his flirtatious ways. He claims he loves your daughter but it's obvious he's after your money, Master Kunikazu."

"Repeating what I know isn't necessary, Ren."

Ren bows in apology.

"I never approved of their marriage. Ayana could've married anyone but him," Kunikazu massages his temples. "Make it look like an accident."

Ren bows in obedience. "Yes, Master Kunikazu." He bows again to dismiss himself.

* * *

Ayana sat in her bedroom with her arms wrapped around her legs curled to her body. She rocks back and forth looking up at the big wedding picture of her beloved husband and herself. She couldn't handle losing him. She didn't have the mental capacity.

She loved him with all she had. This man was the one, the only one. She needed him now more than she ever did before, but... he's not here and won't be here for her ever again.

Ayana was surprised at her reactions. Even when Kuniharu did something minor that made her sad, she cried. But right now, she sits on her bed with a blank dull look on her face. She subconsciously decided her fate.

She walks over to her dresser, opens the top drawer and pulls out a 357 magnum. Her father gave her that gun for emergencies. She holds the gun in her hand with her continuous blank look. The gun is slowly raised to her head.

The door slams open and she snaps out of her trance.

"Mommy, I can't say this word in this bo-," young Kunimitsu says pointing at a word in his picture book. He stops talking when he saw a gun in his mother's hand.

_"Mitsu, come here for a moment," Kunikazu pats his lap. Young Kunimitsu jumps onto his lap. "See this?" he takes out a pistol. "One day, you'll get to use one of these, but right now, grandpa is going to warn you that this thing is very dangerous. It can make someone sleep and never wake up again."_

'The thing in mommy's hand looks a lot like the thing that grandpa showed me before,' he thought to himself. "Mommy, that thing is dangerous."

"I know, darling," she says in a sweet voice. She walks over to Kunimitsu still holding the gun and bend down to his level. She smiles at the young boy and pets his hair. "What word do you need help with?"

"This," he points.

"Imaginary, darling. Say it with me, imaginary."

"Imaginary," they say together.

"Honey, there are some things in the world that are imaginary, which means nonexistent." He looks at her confused. "Nonexistent means not real." He makes a big O with his mouth.

"Fake?" he asks.

"Yes, that's exactly right. You're such a smart boy," she begins crying.

"Mommy, why you crying?" he innocently asks. Ayana finally puts down the gun. She puts both her hands on her son's face.

"Mommy won't always be here for you. So one day you have to learn how to take care of yourself. Can you promise to take care of yourself for mommy?" He nods in response. "Mommy's going to look for daddy," she says sadly.

"Daddy coming home?" he simply asked.

"When mommy finds daddy, we'll all be happy again," she kisses his forehead and hugs him tightly. After a few seconds, she lets go of her son and composes herself. "Mommy needs to do something now. Go play okay?"

"Okay," and he runs off.

"I love you," she whispers. She looks back to the gun lying next to her feet. She delicately picks up the gun, intending to finish what she started.

Kunimitsu happily skips down the hall but abruptly stops when a loud BANG noise was heard. He runs back to his mother's room.

"Mommy, I hear loud boom!" he says almost excitedly. He walked over to the lifeless form that's creating a pool of crimson liquid. Ren and many house servants and maids all ran to Ayana's room. They saw the young boy sitting next to his mother, and quickly picked up the boy and took him outside.

"Your mother is tired and would like to rest. Go on and play with your toys, young master Kunimitsu," Ren quickly explains to the little boy before he starts asking questions. He slams the door shut leaving the young boy alone in the hallway.

* * *

Twelve years past and many of it spent with a personal psychologist hired by Kunikazu in brainwashing the happy memories Kunimitsu had with his mother and father. Those memories were replaced with thoughts Kunikazu wanted his grandson to remember.

It would've worked too if Kunimitsu wasn't so smart. One day he went to look for his grandfather, but his grandfather wasn't there in his office. By accidentally tripping over a table's leg, he knocked a painting off the wall where he happened to stumble upon his grandfather's secret safe. Kunimitsu could've sworn by now his grandfather would've told him everything about the family fortune, but why leave out a safe?

He entered the birth years of his grandfather's, grandmother's, and his mothers but it didn't open. He pondered 'Maybe grandmother first?' That didn't work either. He went back to the original combination and added his father's birth year, but it still didn't open. Finally he replace his father's birth year with his own and presto the safe opened. Instead of finding money or priceless family jewels, he found papers.

Just then, Kunikazu came into the room, shocked to see his safe cracked and none other than his grandson reading the contents of the safe. He didn't have to begin speaking for Kunimitsu did it for him.

"Grandfather, what is this?" he asked firmly shaking the papers in his hand. Kunikazu was speechless. How could he explain himself to his grandson, the only heir to the family fortune? He knew his grandson's personality well and was fully aware what Kunimitsu would do if he learned the truth about his parents.

"Those papers are none of your concern," said Kunikazu with a serious tone.

"The death of my father was no accident. It's all right here! You planned it all. And my mother! It wasn't a dream. How dare you make me think witnessing my mother's death was a dream? All these years have been nothing but lies. YOU are a SICK MAN." He throws the papers aside with only thoughts of storming out of this fake life and starting anew. He was about to leave before his grandfather stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked holding firmly onto Kunimitsu's arm.

Breaking free of his grandfather's grip, he answers "Away from you. I've been living a lie these years after mother's and father's death. From this day forth, Kunimitsu is dead. I want nothing to do with you or this family. I will fulfill what mother told me before she died."

"What did she say?"

"Something that idiotic psychologist couldn't erase. Something that I could never do here. This place is poison and will hinder me in everything I do-" he gets cut off by a slap from his grandfather.

"Shut your mouth. Boy, you're nothing without my guidance-"

"That's where you're wrong!" he cut him off before taking a breath. "My. Dear. Grandfather," each word spoken with indescribable disgust. Kunikazu was ready to hit him again. "Hit me. I can see you're itching to do it!"

"ARGH!" screams Kunikazu. His voice grows louder, loud enough for the whole mansion to hear. "You'll never survive out there. People won't hand you everything you want like they would now."

"It's not what mother wanted-"

"What the fuck did she want?" he demanded.

Kunimitsu doesn't answer him and walks to the door. "Don't you walk away from me when I'm talking to you! Kunimitsu!" his eyes appearing deadly as ever.

Kunimitsu stops in his tracks but doesn't look back. "I will learn to take care of myself. I'll do it without your cold heartless money and without the influence of anyone in this household especially yours, dear grandfather," the last two words spoken with the same tone as before. Kunikazu was fuming beyond belief.

With that, Kunimitsu left his grandfather's mansion for good. He stood in front of the front gates, facing away from the mansion. With a determined attitude, he turns back toward the mansion. The night was silent with the exception of the late night wind. The wind lightly caressed the dress shirt and dress pants he wore and his hair danced lightly.

"My name is Tezuka," he says as he takes out a photo of his mother and father from his pocket.

"Mother, please guide me as I learn to live on my own." He kisses his mother in the photo.

"Father, I'm sorry for ever thinking you were-" his voice began to break. "I'm sorry" he whispers.


	2. Spend a Day With Tezuka

Thank you to everyone who spent their time reading, and to the readers who reviewed.

Without further ado, here's chapter 2.

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Chapter 2: Spend a Day With Tezuka

"Oof," mumbled Fuji, rubbing his head.

"Fuuuuuji, we're going to be late nya. Get up now!" nagged the usual energetic Eiji after he tossed Fuji's backpack at him.

"I'm up.. I'm uh-" Fuji yawned himself back to sleep.

"FUJI! Please don't make me repeat myself," said Eiji with his arms crossed.

"..." was Fuji's answer.

"Ahem ahem," Eiji clears his throat. "You are now twenty years old. You worked so hard the first two years of college just so you could get into the medical program you dreamed of since high school. AND now you're going to give your professors a bad impression of you on the first day already. Fuji, I cannot stress this enough but if you don't get up right now, your whole future is doomed...?" Eiji suddenly ends his lecture in a question.

"I'm ready," said a fully dressed, groomed, Fuji. Eiji stood there in shock. Fuji gives Eiji his usual smile and places his hand on his best friend's shoulder. "And if you weren't talking so much, you would've noticed that I was ready to leave a long time ago and if we do happen to be late, it'll be your fault that my professors develop a bad impression of me."

"Nya Fuji!" Eiji punches Fuji playfully and both boys laugh on their way out of their little home.

Fuji Syusuke and Kikumaru Eiji met in middle school and became best friends throughout high school, and now they attend the same college with different majors in mind. Eiji got accepted with a full scholarship in gymnastics while Fuji wants to work in the medical field, contrary to what his family is known for. His whole family consists of professional tennis players. Fuji strayed from the path of tennis when his younger brother, Yuuta, hated him whenever Yuuta was compared to him. Also luckily for Fuji, he discovered a new passion in science, at first it was astronomy but Fuji wanted to do more so he took up health professions.

Currently Fuji and Eiji lives in a rural part of Japan. To get to school, they ride bicycles. The two best friends rode their bikes side by side silently into the noisy city of Tokyo. Along the way is a huge TV station that broadcasts important news or events. On the screen of many television screens was Shiba with a small icon of Tezuka in the upper left corner.

"Most recently the rising star, Tezuka, announced a public contest for fans of all ages. The excitement finally ends today as in just a few minutes, entries to 'Spend a Day With Tezuka' will no longer be accepted. The winner will be revealed next week. Good luck to everyone who participates!" says Shiba with a bow at the end.

Fuji had stopped to listen the entertainment news and was now excited about the contest. Ever since Tezuka made his first debut in the movie "Flavor of Life"(1) Fuji immediately became a fan of Tezuka. The actor was young and good looking, and the DVD extra bonus features showed some of Tezuka's personality, which Fuji fell in love with. The young actor was mysterious overall as a person. Fuji thought, 'If I could win this contest, I get to spend a whole day with Tezuka and learn a lot of new things' about one of his favorite Japanese actors.

"Fuji, there's no time for watching television. Come on, hurry up," insisted Eiji. Fuji nodded quickly and got right back to biking next to his friend. Both the boys continued riding their bikes until they came across a crossroad. One way lead to the college. The other leads to the building where you submit the contest entry sheet. Eiji was the first to turn his bike towards the college, but Fuji turned his bike the other direction. Eiji saw this and was seriously growing impatient with Fuji.

"Fuji, what are you doing? _This_ is the way to school," said Eiji using his head to point in the right direction.

"I know. Please Eiji, go on without me. I'll get to school on time. This is something I have to do," said Fuji in his serious tone. Eiji knew his friend meant business but for what reason? He sighed and nodded Fuji off. Fuji gave him his usual smile and went in the opposite direction of Eiji.

In front of the building two slots, one which you can reach into for a contest entry sheet and the other which you place the completed sheet. Fuji quickly took off his backpack to take out a pen. He reached into the first slot and filled out the sheet as quickly as possible. "Name, Fu..ji Syuuussuke. A..ddressss. Telephhhhone numberrr," Fuji quietly mumbled to himself as he was writing the necessary information. Not a minute later, this boy was finished and proudly slid his entry sheet into the second slot.

When Fuji nearly reached the college doors, he could faintly hear the bells that initiated the start of class. "Oh no..." He quickly locked his bike and ran to his class.

"...we're going to start with the general approach to medical diagnosis. This usually involved four steps. First step," the professor abruptly stops at the opening sound of the door slamming open and small panting breathes coming from the late student. "Excuse me. Are you in this class?" she asked with a stern voice. She was a middle age woman, maybe even older since her wrinkles were perfectly visible and her hair always styled in a ponytail.

"Yes, I am," answers Fuji still trying to catch his breathe.

"You're late. Take a seat anywhere. Any part of the lesson you missed will not be repeated to you. You will get any missing notes from your classmates. First step is to obtain a history of the patient. This is the most important step in medical diagnosis and a complete and thorough history provides up to eighty percent of information the physician with need towards making a definitive diagnosis...(2)" continues Professor Ryuzaki in what seems to be a never ending lecture.

Fuji settles into his seat and takes out his books. The first couple of minutes seemed like hours and Fuji started to nod off. He was tapped awake by a fellow student, with short platinum color hair, sitting behind him. Fuji turned his head towards him with sleepy eyes and nodded a thanks. This classmate of his leaned forward and whispers to Fuji,

"Don't stress over sleeping in her class. It happens to everybody at one point or another. She doesn't know when to give breaks or when to stop talking that it results in many students falling asleep in her class. A lot of people are nice so if you happen to doze off, they'll be willing to share their notes with you."

"Thank you very much," Fuji whispers back.

"Name's Saeki Kojirou," he says holding out his hand for Fuji.

"I'm Fuji Syusuke," replies Fuji shaking Saeki's hand.

* * *

Meanwhile...

"Why do they want to put each entry into a little plastic ball (A/N: the type that comes out of gumball machines)? Can't they just choose an entry and declare whoever it is the winner?" complained a woman who was hired for the job of said questions.

"You know the Tezuka's manager is extremely anal about everything so he wants the contest all fancy and the biggest deal in all of Japan to raise Tezuka's popularity," answered another woman while she folded each entry twice and then placed them into a little plastic ball.

"They're planning to do this like a live lottery drawing. Put all these plastic balls into this huge vacuum and whichever ball rolls out first will be declared the winner. I think it's something like that," said a third woman rubbing her head and then returning back to work.

"Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah whatever...," mocked the first woman. "I want to be entered into this contest if this Tezuka is so great," she suddenly bursts out.

"Wait, you never heard of Tezuka? He's like the biggest thing that happened in Japan since his first debut just three years ago at the age of seventeen. And besides, it's too late for you to enter the contest. They already counted up all the entries and ordered the same amount of plastic balls for them. You couldn't possibly enter now and even if you do, the chances of you winning is slim to none. You'll just have to wait forever and ever and ever to meet Tezuka," said the second woman.

"Who said that? I have my entry right here," she says holding up a sheet.

"Pre-ordered amount of plastic balls...," repeats the second woman.

"Well then some sucker won't be entered and I'll take that person's place," says the first woman reaching into her box of sorted entries. "Here, this person will be that sucker!" she declares holding up an entry sheet. "Fuji Syusuke, so sorry honey but this isn't your lucky day." She throws Fuji's entry sheet into the garbage, puts hers into the plastic ball, and dumps the ball into the pile with the rest of them.

* * *

Flavor of Life(1): A song from Utada Hikaru's album that I'm absolutely in love with so hey why not make it into a movie name.

'medical diagnosis notes'(2): I took this class in high school so the credit goes to my high school teacher who is extremely smart in Medical Diagnosis. These are actually his notes.

Thanks for reading! Reviews are welcome :)


	3. Winners?

I wasn't planning on updating so soon since my teachers decided to give an overload of work this week and was going to update next week during my mid-winter break, but I decided to since it was Valentine's Day and V-Day is so special. My original plan was to update on the exact date but failed to do so. This is still my gift to my readers for Valentine's Day :)

Oh and THANK YOU for the wonderful reviews :D

* * *

Chapter 3: (Belated V-Day Special) Winner/s?

It was Thursday the 7th of February. Instead of spending mere seconds unlocking his bicycle, Fuji rushes home by foot to catch the evening entertainment news. It was unfortunate for Eiji, who got dragged home too when he wanted to stay at school and practice his acrobatic moves on the balance beam.

Eiji was practically panting when both boys entered their little home, but not Fuji. Even though Eiji was involved in sports and Fuji wasn't, Fuji still had more stamina than the red haired boy probably due to Fuji's tennis days. Fuji pops down on their little comfy brown recliner and turns on the TV to the entertainment channel. He had his full concentration on the television.

"Hey (huff puff) Fuji," says Eiji still trying to catch his breathe. "Mind letting (huff puff) me (huff puff) sit? (huff puff) I'm tired (huff puff)." Fuji snapped out of his state.

"Oh sure, Eiji." He gets up and lets his best friend sit. There was only room for one of the boys on the recliner.

"Thanks Fuji." While Eiji sits on the recliner, Fuji actually went to sit in front of the television. 'This is serious. Very serious,' thought Eiji.

Soon music comes on to indicate the start of the evening entertainment news.

"Good evening everyone. I'm Shiba. We'll get straight to it as most people are most anxious for the announcement of the winner for 'Spend a Day With Tezuka'. Just a couple of minutes ago, the stage was set for the selection of the winner. In a super enlarged enclosed vacuum like structure, all the entries were placed in their respective containers and placed into this spectacular structure. We will now go to Inui Sadaharu with information on how the structure works. Inui?" The scene on the television screen is now the event setting. A man with square glasses appears on the screen with a microphone.

"Hello, I'm Inui Sadaharu. The structure standing behind me was made by me. It's made so that each entry has an equal chance of winning. Even though the winning entry will come out through a slot on the bottom of the structure, the entries at the top can still end up coming out as the winner. Each plastic ball weighs approximately an ounce and a half which requires some effort to mix them up so that top plastic balls could have the same chance of winning. So using my knowledge of physics, I have made it so that once the switch for the vacuum is turned on, each plastic ball becomes as light as cotton balls and all the plastic balls mixes evenly." The camera zooms in on the large structure, encircling it a couple of times. "Now for the main event. To present the special guest who will be the one to pick the winner, here's Tezuka's manager, Taichi Dan!"

When a small little boy who looked the age of twelve came out, Fuji couldn't believe his eyes. He was expecting some big macho man or something.

"Hello. Hi everyone! This is the first time I appeared to the public and yes believe it. I am Tezuka's manager. Don't underestimate my abilities just because of my size." He clears his throat. "Onward with the conclusion to this contest. The person who will select a winner will not be me. In fact, everyone watching is in for a special treat. Our special guest is the _one _and _only_ TEZUKA!" Applause could be heard in the background as Tezuka appeared from behind curtains in stylish casual wear and wearing his signature glasses.

Fuji's smile only grew wilder when he saw Tezuka come onto the stage. The young actor didn't say anything but pushed the switch up to start the mixing. All the little plastic balls flew up to the top of the structure, colliding furiously. A tiny slot for one plastic ball to fall into opened. When Tezuka saw the slot open, he pulled the switch down and all the plastic balls flew down, and that special one landed in the slot.

"WE HAVE A WINNER!" Taichi proudly announces. He pulls out the slot, takes out the plastic ball and opens it. "The winner is...," he unfolds the entry sheet, "Yako Gureta! Congratulations to you if you are watching at this very moment. If you happened to miss the event, it'll be announced again tomorrow morning. Your 'Spend a Day With Tezuka' will take place exactly a week from now, on Valentine's Day! How exciting, right? Thank you all for watching and participating, and congratulations once again to our winner, Yako Gureta. Good night!" The television turns off.

"Fuji... sorry you didn't win," said a sad Eiji. Fuji turns his face to his best friend with a smile and not with a frown like Eiji expected.

"You don't have to feel sorry for me, Eiji. Did you see how many people participated? The chances that I would be the winner would literally be one in a million or even two. Don't mind me, Eiji. It would've been nice if I could meet Tezuka, but it wasn't in the stars for me."

"Fuji, let's go eat. I'll treat you to some hamburgers!" cheered Eiji hoping to lighten up Fuji.

"Okay," answered Fuji. Both boys rise from their seat and left for some fast food in the city.

* * *

"A successful contest!" yelled Taichi. "Wrap it up!" he claps twice and all the members of the cleaning crew went straight to work. Taichi approaches Tezuka, "Now that wasn't so bad. I don't know why you were so against this idea in the first place. Can't you see how popular you are?"

Tezuka simply answered, "Something's off. Manage it better" and he walked off.

"Everything went perfectly. What are you talking about? Sheesh," grunted Taichi Dan.

"Tezuka is right actually. The person who happened to be a winner was a fluke," said Inui, wiping his glasses.

"That's impossible! Someone explain this to me! Inui?." Inui takes out his data book.

"When we were counting the number of entries, I also wrote down each and every name of the participants." Taichi's mouth drops.

"That's a lot of names!" he exclaimed.

"One of many reasons. The main one was to prevent anyone from entering more than once, but now it has been proved useful in another way." He reaches for a random plastic ball that wasn't chosen as the winner. He opens the ball and pulls out the entry sheet and holds it next to the winner's sheet. "See the difference?" Taichi scans both entries carefully and shook his head.

"The only difference I see is the personal information."

Inui points at the lower left corner of the random entry. "Look here." Taichi takes the entry sheet and had to really focus to read what was stamped there.

"It's the number 435693." Inui hands him Yako Gureta's entry sheet.

"Look at the bottom left corner here." Taichi looks carefully. His eyes widen with surprise.

"...there's no number here..." said Taichi with a look of death. "Ahh! How could I have screwed up so badly?"

"Also when the name was called, I thought it sounded familiar. I decided to not mention it while the event was still airing so I'm telling you now. If I could recall correctly, Yako Gureta was one of the workers who was hired to put entries into each ball. She must've wanted to enter the contest but was too late to do so, so she decided to take the place of a participant. Coincidently the participant whom she replaced turned out to be the winner and should be the winner."

Still with a panicked look in his eyes, Taichi asks "What should we do?"

"Leave it to me. I have all the data right here and on my database. I will go through each plastic ball for the numbers and strike them out on my database. Eventually only one name will remain and that should be the winner," explains Inui.

Finally Taichi breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank you Inui."

* * *

"The four common signs and symptoms in medical diagnosis is pain, hyperthermia, lassitude, and weight loss. We'll start with pain. Pain is the most common symptom in medical diagnosis. The etiologies of pain can be classified into three: trauma, infection, and neoplasm," Professor Ryuzaki lectured once again, the same everyday.

Fuji was taking notes on everything his professor said but wasn't processing the information like he usually did. The contest outcome surprisingly did weigh heavily on his mind. Saeki, who now sits next to Fuji instead of behind him, could sense Fuji's uneasiness.

"Hey Fuji." Saeki's voice causes Fuji's head to turn toward him. "You okay?" Fuji nods his response, but Saeki didn't buy it. There was nothing else Saeki could've done. He couldn't keep pestering Fuji to tell him what's wrong; he was taught better.

"Gina, there's a rumor about the Tezuka contest yesterday. Did you hear?" asked Nina, who sat diagonally across from Fuji and Saeki. Fuji couldn't help but divert his attention from the lesson to the girls.

"No. Tell me what happened," answered Gina.

"Well, apparently the winner Yako whatever the name was turned out to be an invalid participant!" Gina gasped loudly, so loudly the professor stopped her lesson.

"If you wish to gossip, do it outside but it will not happen in this lecture hall. Now weight loss is the loss of more than ten percent of the body weight and this weight loss is involuntary and unexplained. Some etiologies of weight..." scolded Professor Ryuzaki and then instantly went right back to lecturing.

"Gina, be quiet next time," whispered Nina.

"Sorry Nina. Continue," apologized Gina.

"My older cousin was hired as a cleanup crew member and he overheard Tezuka's manager and some genius talking."

"What does this mean then?" asked Gina.

"It means a completely new winner will be announced soon and instead of the faulty winner spending Valentine's Day with Tezuka, the _real_ winner will spend Valentine's Day with Tezuka," explained Nina. "I hope I'm that lucky person," she added with a dreamy look on her face.

Fuji went right back to work after listening to those two girls. Saeki turned his attention to Fuji and somehow felt the normal Fuji was back again, and he smiled.

* * *

"Fujiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii," screamed Eiji as the event on February 7th was repeated once again today. Dragged all the way home on foot by the vigorous Fuji.

"Here sit." Fuji pushes Eiji into the recliner. Eiji was quite taken back by Fuji's behavior and was confused as heck. Fuji took his seat in front of the television again. Eiji was almost too nervous to move from his seat let alone speak.

The evening entertainment news' music came on, which made Fuji sit up and concentrated.

"Good evening. I'm Shiba with extremely important news. It has come to our attention that the winner of 'Spend a Day With Tezuka' was not actually a legitimate entry. Yako Gureta, a female worker, who was hired by Taichi Dan to help with the contest took matters into her own hands when she was clearly too late to enter the contest. Unknown by her, all the legitimate entries were stamped with their own unique number and her entry sheet failed to provide a number and was proved to be invalid. Inui Sadaharu volunteered to fix the mistake and was expected to give the name of the real winner after three days. However due to his hasty work, he was able to provide us with the name earlier this morning! I wish I could reveal the name, but it was a personal request by Tezuka that he'd announce the real winner. We have him here today with us. Please welcome Tezuka!"

Music begins playing and Tezuka is seen appearing from backstage. Tezuka bows before the camera and takes a seat next to Shiba. Once the music faded into the background, Tezuka started talking. "Thank you for granting my request."

"It's our pleasure, Tezuka," answers Shiba who looks at Tezuka dreamingly. Tezuka pays no extra attention to her and turns to the camera.

"I apologize for all the confusion and inconveniences that this contest has brought. It should've been conducted better and didn't meet up to everyone's standards so I offer my sincere apologies. The only proper way to announce the actual winner is if I personally do it. Also, for next week's activities on Valentine's Day, it'll be one extravagant experience for the winner and we're going to make sure of it because of this mistake we made. Of course, it was originally planned to be an experience that the winner would enjoy and never forget, but like I said; due to our foolish mistake, Valentine's Day standards are set much higher for us to fulfill. Without further ado, congratulations to..."

Fuji was mesmerized by Tezuka's facial features and expression that he was no longer paying attention to what the actor was saying.

"Fuji Syusuke. I'm looking forward to meeting you next week." Tezuka ended with his oh so rare sexy smile.


End file.
